Spatial multiple-choice matching in a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina): differential encoding of landscape versus local feature information?

The nature of spatial information used for memorizing and recalling places is largely unclear. Earlier studies tested integration of geometric and feature information mostly during reorientation in artificial environments without including time as a memory-critical component. Here, we tested a harbour seal in a delayed matching-to-sample task (DMTS) in a familiar environment under two spatial multiple-choice conditions. The feature condition consisted of a DMTS task with four comparison stimuli presented on fixed positions in a classic matching apparatus and was designed to make stimulus features the most prominent information. The landscape condition consisted of a DMTS task in a familiar environment with four places marked by comparison stimuli and allowed the use of all available spatial information including geometrical and feature information. The seal's performance was impaired by delays of 3, 6, 9 or 12 s only in the feature condition; a delay of 12 s resulted in chance level performance. Replacing the comparison stimuli at the apparatus with identical spheres resulted in impaired performance. Performance in the landscape condition was impaired neither by delays nor by replacing comparison stimuli with spheres. Landscape information obviously was encoded redundantly and could be recalled more reliably and longer than feature information, which reveals feature information to be a less valuable type of spatial information for memorizing and recalling places.     

Well-Being Before and After Pregnancy Termination: The Consequences of Abortion and Miscarriage on Satisfaction With Various Domains of Life

Journal of Happiness Studies - The consequences of pregnancy outcomes other than live birth on subjective well-being have rarely been analysed in research to date. This study examines pre-event...     

The Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social–Emotional: A validation study of a mother‐report questionnaire on a clinical mother–infant sample

Mother‐report questionnaires of infant socioemotional functioning are increasingly used to screen for clinical referral to infant mental health services. The validity of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional (ASQ:SE; J. Squires, D. Bricker, K. Heo, & E. Twombly, 2002) was investigated in a sample of help‐seeking mothers with young infants. It was compared with independent observer‐rated dyadic interactions, and the quality of dyadic relationships was rated by expert clinicians. The ASQ:SE ratings also were compared with questionnaires on maternal psychological stress and distress. The ASQ:SE did not correlate significantly with either external ratings of dyadic interaction or clinically assessed relationship qualities, though the latter two were strongly associated with each other. In contrast, ASQ:SE scores were associated with questionnaires relating to maternal psychological distress. This was especially true for mothers classified as depressed. Furthermore, reports on the ASQ:SE were strongly predicted by maternal stress. The study points to some problems with the concurrent validity of the ASQ:SE in clinical samples. It also demonstrates a close link between mothers' psychological distress and their ratings of infant social and emotional functioning. Further research should investigate the extent to which the ASQ:SE specifically measures infant functioning or maternal distress, and how it functions in clinical versus nonclinical samples.     

How predictions of economic behavior are affected by the socio-economic status of the target person

We investigate how the stereotype of the poor (vs. middle class) influences behavioral predictions. In Study 1, participants made predictions regarding another person’s economic behavior in scenarios pertaining to rate of time preferences (loss, gain of smaller and larger amount). We find that participants, across scenarios, expect individuals with low SES to show more short-sightedness—i.e., steeper temporal discounting. This pattern persisted until strong diagnostic information about previous economic behavior was provided. These results are novel but consistent with previous work on stereotype application. Study 2 probed stereotype accuracy. Participants with lower vs. higher SES reported how they would act in scenarios matching those of Study 1. We find that they respond very similarly, which is in contrast to the stereotype that poor people are more short-sighted and may possibly be taken to suggest that the association between low SES and short-sightedness is biased.     

Basic psychological need satisfaction across the retirement transition: Changes and longitudinal associations with depressive symptoms

Motivation and Emotion - Drawing on self-determination theory, the present study examined how satisfaction of the basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) changes across...     

Development and Validation of a Brief Version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: The DERS-16

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a widely-used, theoretically-driven, and psychometrically-sound self-report measure of emotion regulation difficulties. However, at 36-items, the DERS may be challenging to administer in some situations or settings (e.g., in the course of patient care or large-scale epidemiological studies). Consequently, there is a need for a briefer version of the DERS. The goal of the present studies was to develop and evaluate a 16-item version of the DERS – the DERS-16. The reliability and validity of the DERS-16 were examined in a clinical sample (N = 96) and two large community samples (Ns = 102 and 482). The validity of the DERS-16 was evaluated comparing the relative strength of the association of the two versions of the DERS with measures of emotion regulation and related constructs, psychopathology, and clinically-relevant behaviors theorized to stem from emotion regulation deficits. Results demonstrate that the DERS-16 has retained excellent internal consistency, good test-retest reliability, and good convergent and discriminant validity. Further, the DERS-16 showed minimal differences in its convergent and discriminant validity with relevant measures when compared to the original DERS. In conclusion, the DERS-16 offers a valid and brief method for the assessment of overall emotion regulation difficulties.